


Reach For the Sky

by sister_wolf



Category: DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-09
Updated: 2006-02-09
Packaged: 2017-10-12 03:43:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/120380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sister_wolf/pseuds/sister_wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I guess there must be some kind of weird truth to that whole "Once a Titan, always a Titan" thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reach For the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Infinite Crisis 4 and Teen Titans (v.3) 32. I tried to make the events of Infinite Crisis fit into some approximation of a reasonable timeline; my apologies if I've screwed it up. Thank you to [](http://theamusedone.livejournal.com/profile)[**theamusedone**](http://theamusedone.livejournal.com/) for giving this a thorough read-through and telling me where I'd gone wrong.

I guess there must be some kind of weird truth to that whole "Once a Titan, always a Titan" thing.

When Gar sent out a call for former Titans to mobilize into super-powered disaster response teams, I didn't even give it a second thought before dropping everything to go help out. Not that I've got all that much going in my life at this point anyway. I mean, I've got a job and stuff, but it's nothing like being in the Titans. Nothing _real_. God, how sad is that? A year of civilian life since my second Titans team broke up, and it still doesn't feel like real life to me.

So instead of slinging mochachinos at Starbucks (ah, the glamorous life of a wanna-be actress), there I was, sitting in the big auditorium at the new Titans Tower waiting for Gar to finish giving us a pre-mission briefing. Everything about the new Tower was big. The Tower we had in New York may have _looked_ big, but everything aboveground was a hologram. This place is massive in comparison. (Not to mention the ridiculously enormous statue of the founding Titans they have sitting out in front of the place. I mean, _come on_. Talk about needing to get _over_ yourself!)

Anyway. Where was I? Oh yeah, the auditorium, which was packed almost wall-to-wall with former Titans. Gar was droning on and on up at the podium, so I kept myself amused by checking out who had shown up. Lots of has-beens and hangers-on, basically. And anyone who thinks that I fit into either one of those categories can kiss my ass. The new kids may not know who the hell I am, but I was on one of the best teams the Titans have _ever_ had. That would be my second team, the one with Nightwing, Arsenal, Cyborg, Troia, etc., not my first team, the one with me, Joto, Risk, and Prysm. Don't get me wrong, I loved my first team, but... yeah. We had issues. I still say that we could have really been something impressive, though, if only we'd had more time.

So there I was, looking around the auditorium and thinking bitchy thoughts about my temporary teammates (Oh my god, someone _seriously_ called in Duela Dent to help? Nah, she probably just showed up uninvited, the way she always does. And okay, Mirage has _got_ to be using her illusion powers, because _nobody_ looks _that_ good in a white spandex bodysuit after having a kid.) Finally, Gar finished his briefing up with a schedule of when the various teams would depart the Tower. We were free to do whatever we wanted until our teams were set to leave, as long as we kept our communicators on hand in case of an emergency.

I had about an hour to kill before my ten-person 'team' was set to go. (And holy shit, was _this_ going to be a disaster-- Duela Dent, Flamebird, Terra, Mirage, _and_ Pantha all on the same team? We'd better _hope_ we didn't run into any supervillains while we were in Gotham, 'cause if we did, half the team would be too busy catfighting with each other to notice.) We were being sent to Gotham to help them clean up after that whole rain of fire thing. I heard it was some sort of mountain that, like, appeared in mid-air and disintegrated over the whole city. Freaky, but whatever. You get used to weird stuff pretty damn quickly, when you're a Titan.

The auditorium was immediately filled with a loud buzz of conversation as everyone started milling around and gossiping. People were hugging, kissing, showing off pictures of their kids; basically, it looked like a high school reunion, except with way more spandex. I was hoping that some of my former teammates would show up, but, well, pretty much everyone from my second time on the Titans has moved on to other teams (except me-- not that I'm bitter or anything), and as for my first team... well, Isaiah promised that he'd come, but he did warn me that he'd probably be late because of a chemistry exam.

And that's it. Isaiah was literally the only one I _could_ get in contact with. Prysm and Fringe were still somewhere in outer space, as far as I knew, and Cody... well. He basically disappeared after the team broke up. I heard that he'd helped out Young Justice a while back, but that was the last I'd heard of him in well over a year. On my more optimistic days, I imagined him living the high life somewhere out west, swilling beer and making out with pretty girls. On my less optimistic days, I figured Cody was probably back in jail. Or dead.

God, I needed to get out of there, get some air. Seeing everyone happily chattering with _their_ old teammates was just reminding me of how much I missed mine. Clipping my communicator to my costume (what, you think that thing has _pockets_?), I escaped out the auditorium door and motored down the hallway toward the front door.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I must have walked right past him without even noticing. From somewhere behind me, I heard a familiar voice drawling, "Well, well, well. If it isn't Toni Monetti, as I live and breathe."

Scowling, I turned to give whoever it was a piece of my mind. "Yeah, what do you wa-- Oh my god! Cody?" My jaw dropped at the sight of my long-lost teammate. Cody Driscoll stood slouching comfortably against the wall with his arms crossed and a cocky smile on his face, just as if it _hadn't_ been almost two years since I'd last heard any word of him.

I shrieked and threw my arms around his neck. "You asshole! I totally thought you were dead or something!"

Cody wrapped his arms around my waist and boosted me up into the air. Grinning up at me, he cocked an eyebrow and drawled, "Hey there, sweet thing. If you're gonna be _this_ happy to see me, maybe I should disappear more often."

"Don't you dare, you jerk. Where the hell have you been?" I demanded, smacking him on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Cody lowered me back down to the floor and rubbed his shoulder, pretending to wince. "Jeez, Toni."

I rolled my eyes. It wasn't like I could actually hurt him, not unless I hit him with a Mack truck or something. "You are such a drama queen."

"Takes one to know one," Cody said smugly.

"Yeah, yeah. Now, spill," I ordered, putting my hands on my hips and frowning up at him. He hadn't been _that_ much taller than me at sixteen, but at some point during the last couple of years he'd clearly gotten a growth spurt. He was a lot more muscular now, and his shoulders had really filled out. With his deep tan, bright blue eyes, and unruly blond hair, he looked just like a cute surfer guy. There was something kind of old and tired about his eyes, though, as if he'd aged beyond his years. I bit my lip. Maybe he really _had_ been in jail again.

"Well, that's kind of a long story." Cody glanced around uncomfortably. "Hey, let's get out of here, take a walk or something."

It was a perfect San Francisco afternoon outside: mid-seventies, not too humid, with a nice cool breeze over the bay. Linking my arm in his, I tugged Cody toward the ginormous statue of the founding Titans. "Oh my god, have you _seen_ this thing? It's _so_ totally ridiculous."

Cody stared up at it incredulously for a few minutes, then chuckled and shook his head. "Man, this new Tower is just so... Wow. All _we_ got was a big apartment over a video store, and we didn't even get to keep it for all that long. Nothing like this place."

"I know! _So_ unfair. But you gotta admit, the apartment I found us over The Stain was bitchin'." Not that we'd managed to keep that one for very long, either. Like I said, I loved my first team, but... _issues_.

"That _was_ pretty awesome," Cody agreed, winking at me. For a second, he looked just like the old devil-may-care Cody, but the look was gone so quickly that I thought I might have just imagined it.

I grabbed his arm again, leading him into the gardens around the Tower until we were far enough away that no one could overhear us. Standing in the shade of a weirdly-shaped tree with big purple flowers, I crossed my arms and scowled at him. "Okay, stop stalling. What the heck happened to you? Where have you _been_ all this time?"

Cody sighed, running his hand through his hair uncomfortably. "I, um. I got into some pretty bad stuff after my mom died."

"Your mom? I'm so sorry, Cody, I didn't know." I hugged him, not knowing what else to say. He'd never said what had happened to his dad, but I'm pretty sure his mom was the only family Cody really had. God, his mom had been so _young_ , too.

Cody stood stiff and unyielding in my arms for a few moments, then seemed to slowly relax as he brought his arms up to hug me back. "It was a car accident." His voice sounded like he was forcing it to remain level. "My mom was driving. We hit an icy patch and the car spun out. It happened so quick, I couldn't even do _anything_ \--" Cody stopped, taking a deep breath and rubbing a hand over his face. His voice muffled, he said, "We hit a telephone pole. She must have... the paramedics said she died instantly."

"Oh my god. You were in the car with her?" I asked, horrified.

"Yeah. Not a single goddamned scratch on me, though. Lucky _fucking_ me," Cody snarled. He paced a few steps away, stopping with his back partially turned to me. "Anyway, after that I... I don't know. I lost it. I took off, went to Mexico, started doing some bad stuff."

"Like what? Sneaking into NORAD again?" I asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere a little.

"Nah. Nothing that harmless. Stealing, mostly. Cheating people out of money. Drinking too much. I was on my way to the gutter, just like they always said I would be. Just a stupid piece of trailer trash."

"You are _not_ stupid!" Scowling, I stomped over to him. "And you aren't trash either, so don't ever say that again."

Cody seemed like he was about to say something, but then he stopped, shaking his head and smiling a little.

"What?" I demanded.

"I was just remembering, back when we first started out-- you were this annoying, self-centered, shallow little rich girl. I thought you were the most irritating chick on the face of the planet. And now..."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "And now what? I'm the _second_ most irritating?"

Cody laughed, sounding surprised. "And now... You're a hell of a woman, Toni Monetti."

I could tell that I was blushing, which I _hate_ because I turn a weird purple-ish color instead of a normal red. "Uh, thanks," I said, fiddling with my hair self-consciously. "Um. So, anyway. What happened then?"

"Nothing real dramatic." He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "I hit bottom, and.. I don't know. I guess I just grew up or something. Okay, enough about me. What've you been up to?"

I could tell that there was a lot more to _that_ story, but believe it or not, I _do_ sometimes know when to back off.

"Well, actually, there's something that I kind of wanted to talk to you about." I tried to give him a flirty, mysterious smile, but the effect was ruined by the fact that I was so excited I was practically bouncing on my heels. "I've been talking to Flamebird about starting up a new team. Maybe a Titans team, maybe something else, but-- would you be interested? If we can get this off the ground? C'mon, Cody, say you will. Isaiah's being all boring and responsible. He says he has to stay in college." Rolling my eyes, I waved a hand dismissively.

Cody looked skeptical. "I thought you hated Flamebird."

" _So_ not the point! C'mon, Cody, it'll be a blast. You can't tell me you haven't missed it."

"Well, that's true, but..." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It feels kind of futile to be making big plans right now, with everything that's been happening. I mean, who knows if we're even gonna be _around_ \--"

"No _way_. Don't even _tell_ me you're one of those freaks who thinks the world is going to end, just because there was a rain of fire over Gotham. It's fucking Gotham!" I yelled, throwing my hands in the air. "Weirder shit than that happens practically every other _week_ in Gotham!"

"It's not just that. There's been other stuff too. I mean, all the magic-users disappearing, and people getting killed by those weird black robot things, and--"

"La la la, I can't hear you," I sang with my hands over my ears.

Cody crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. "Just because you don't want to think about it doesn't mean that it's not real."

"Whatever."

Frowning, Cody reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the Titans communicators they'd handed out to everyone at the briefing. Weighing it in one hand, he asked, "So what do you think we're really doing here?"

I shrugged. "Weren't you at the briefing? We're being sent out as super-powered disaster response units."

Cody shook his head. "But that doesn't really make any _sense_. I mean, they called in _all_ the Titans reservists, and every single ex-Titan they could reach. You don't do that unless the world is gonna end or something."

"Cody, the world is _not_ ending. You'll see. We'll go play superhero, spend some time cleaning up Gotham and pissing off Batman, and then everything will go back to normal."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop borrowing trouble," Cody said, smiling ruefully.

"Damn straight." Sliding my hand into his, I started walking down the path again. "Besides, the world can't end this week-- I've got a fitting with Mad Mod next Thursday."

Raising an eyebrow, Cody asked, "Getting a new costume? So, is the new one gonna show more skin or what? Let the record show that I am voting for a bustier."

I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh. "You are such a pig."

"Oink," Cody agreed cheerfully.

And that was the last normal day we had. We headed to Gotham that afternoon, where things got really weird, really quickly. (Totally not kidding-- the _seven deadly sins_ were wandering around possessing random people.) Then we got called in on an emergency: Superboy (but not _our_ Superboy, a different one from a parallel universe or something) was totally trashing some podunk town in Kansas. We were closest, so our little team, the Doom Patrol (creepy!) and the freaking _JSA_ all got called in to take him down. That's when things went horribly, horribly wrong. Bushido, Pantha, and her kid all got ripped to pieces by that fucking _monster_ , and then Cody...

God, _Cody_. It's all just a blur to me now, but I can't stop thinking about it. The sound Cody made when his arm was ripped off. Using my powers to seal off his wound so that he didn't bleed to death. The panicked flight to the hospital, followed by hours spent waiting for some word from the doctors. The smell of blood, which I can't seem to wash off my hands no matter how hard I try.

And now the world seems to be ending, so I guess Cody was right after all. Maybe. Nobody knows what's going on, and people are disappearing, and the world is fucking going _crazy_ , but Cody's still alive. Where there's life, there's hope, right?

Isaiah says that he'll be sticking around for a while. ("What the hell. I'm already two years ahead. I'll just tell my profs I'm taking a semester off to save the world. They'll understand.") Cody's starting to recover, though he still lapses in and out of unconsciousness an awful lot. The doctors say that's normal, though.

I've got my team back-- at least, the half that's still on Earth-- and whatever comes next, at least we're facing it together.

Titans together, and all that.

**Author's Note:**

> There is a timestamp [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/120385).


End file.
